17 Killed, 50 Injured In Road Accident In Korat

[george]

17 killed, 50 injured in road accident in Nakhon Ratchasima

NAKHON RATCHASIMA: -- An air-conditioned bus heading to Bangkok overturned and crashed with a pick-up truck and another passenger bus of the same company, killing 17 people and injuring over 50 others Friday.

The drivers of the two buses of Ratchasima Tour and three persons inside the pick-up were among those killed in the accident, which happened on the Mittraparb Road in Pak Chong district at 6 pm on Friday.

Witnesses told police that the bus, who was heading to Bangkok, lost control on the slippery downhill road and the bus eventually overturned and crossed the road island into the opposite lane, crashing with the pikc-up truck and another bus, which was travelling from Bangkok to Nakhon Ratchasima.

-- The Nation 2009-03-28

[barryloei]

Very sorry for the victims and their families but its not a surprise , we all know they drive way to fast most of the time and they don't have the brains to ajust to the prevailing road conditons . Travelling on a bus in Thailand is not much different to playing russian roulette .

[brahmburgers]

what a gross waste of lives! Is requiring seat belts, or at least having them with each seat - as an option of choice - feasible? Even if belts were required, they probably wouldn't work anyway - similar to seat adjustments not working half the time.

And drivers, .....what will it take to improve their lot? I don't know.

perhaps more breaks and/or replacement drivers - in order to allow them rest time.

fewer distractions: drinks/snacks, animated conversations, drugs/alcolhol drinking, putting CD/tapes in various loud noise making machines.

[goonerthegooner]

So sad,you read about more wasted lives here in the LOS.

My thoughts are with all those involved with loss of loved ones.

What a sad start too the up and coming Songkran Holidays.

[ratcatcher]

Condolences, condolences etc etc.

More wasted lives due to lack of driving skills. Thai bus drivers AFAIK, are not required to take a "defensive" driving course, instead they use an aggressive driving style in the misguided belief that because they are behind the wheel of a massive vehicle they are invulnerable. Until road conditions change, then there is a problem.

The news article said the road was slippery, due, presumably, to rainfall. Did he slow down? We will never know, but as other posters have mentioned, common sense is a rare commodity among many Thai drivers, plus there are tough schedules imposed on the drivers by bus owners.

I always feel very sorry for the victims in these accidents, but until there is a big change in attitudes, accidents will still happen frequently.

[bkkexplorer]

I passed by coming to bkk from surin last night around nine. Saw at least 30 emergency pick ups go by. Traffic on my side was slow and took about half an hour to pass. The other,.. was backed up about 10 km in a standstill. It looked liked something out of a horror film. I only saw the tail end of the clean up, looked like something blew up, fire engines all over and the road was wet, bits and pieces of crumbled metal on the road. What a sad way to go. Condolences to all the families. RIP.

[JacknDanny]

Condolences, condolences etc etc.

More wasted lives due to lack of driving skills. Thai bus drivers AFAIK, are not required to take a "defensive" driving course, instead they use an aggressive driving style in the misguided belief that because they are behind the wheel of a massive vehicle they are invulnerable. Until road conditions change, then there is a problem.

The news article said the road was slippery, due, presumably, to rainfall. Did he slow down? We will never know, but as other posters have mentioned, common sense is a rare commodity among many Thai drivers, plus there are tough schedules imposed on the drivers by bus owners.

I always feel very sorry for the victims in these accidents, but until there is a big change in attitudes, accidents will still happen frequently.

All the above is true.

Couple that with the fact that about 80% of these buses are death traps

Bald tyres, falling apart. Even the most skilled driver would struggle to control one of these contraptions. Couple that with driving styles and attitudes, this incident will sadly be repeated again and again and again

[JimsKnight]

Very sorry for the victims and their families but its not a surprise , we all know they drive way to fast most of the time and they don't have the brains to ajust to the prevailing road conditons . Travelling on a bus in Thailand is not much different to playing russian roulette .

This is why I do my own travelling on a motorbike folks.

[samuibeachcomber]

I dunno,ive travelled all over thailand in buses,always a VIP bus and never experienced a problem.maybe it depends on the bus company,could be worn tyres,anything really,but if the bus was going down hill,a steep gradient,he would presumably be in a low gear,slippery road seems to have done it.very scary if your on the bus.sorry for everyone concerned.

As for riding your own bike being safer,i dont agree,even if you are the model rider,its the other cars,trucks,that will give you the same demise as the bus passengers....................its all a lottery,and you always hope it wont be you.

[neverdie]

I dunno,ive travelled all over thailand in buses,always a VIP bus and never experienced a problem.maybe it depends on the bus company,could be worn tyres,anything really,but if the bus was going down hill,a steep gradient,he would presumably be in a low gear,slippery road seems to have done it.very scary if your on the bus.sorry for everyone concerned.

As for riding your own bike being safer,i dont agree,even if you are the model rider,its the other cars,trucks,that will give you the same demise as the bus passengers....................its all a lottery,and you always hope it wont be you.

sbc,

99% of the time 'Slippery Roads' don't kill people, its the way in which vehicles are driven & ridden on these slippery roads that kill people. I could go on about this but I won't.

May all the victims RIP, My thoughts are with the injured and families of people involved in this tragic incident.

Edited March 28, 2009 by neverdie

[Cuban]

As I beging to write - it occurs to me that this morning is Saturday, I assume the accident mentioned above occured yesterday (27th March?).

On Tuesday 24th in afternoon I drove through this area returning South from Khon Kaen and remarked as we approached the Hwy 2 exit to Korat (North of the Korat bypass) that the road just North of the traffic sign controlled junction at Mittraphap (open market on the left while going South) was covered in white spray paint as accident markers. I guessed about ten pairs of car/truck and bike shaped outlines. If that was one accident it was huge.

I know for Northbound traffic those are the first traffic signals since leaving Bangkok on the Hwy so I would expect surprise accidents. But I've seen more accidents on the South bound side, and yes the inter-city buses are a common theme.

Relating the the accident outlines I saw I enclose a map and Google link.

[ballpoint]

I dunno,ive travelled all over thailand in buses,always a VIP bus and never experienced a problem.maybe it depends on the bus company,could be worn tyres,anything really,but if the bus was going down hill,a steep gradient,he would presumably be in a low gear,slippery road seems to have done it.very scary if your on the bus.sorry for everyone concerned.

As for riding your own bike being safer,i dont agree,even if you are the model rider,its the other cars,trucks,that will give you the same demise as the bus passengers....................its all a lottery,and you always hope it wont be you.

In the past, I frequently took these Ratchasima Tour buses between Khorat and Bangkok, and never experienced a problem. The point is, it only takes one moment for it to become a major problem. Now I drive or ride myself. Sure, I may get taken out out by someone, but I don't have to worry about the idiot driving my vehicle. Well, not all the time anyway.

There was another horrendous crash on that highway a few weeks back, on the long downwards gradient coming in to Muak Lek, heading towards Bkk. We were stopped for 2 hours while they cleared the road. Again, going too fast in the rain was the cause. There are three lanes in each direction, yet you still see trucks and buses using the right hand most one, either holding everyone up, or speeding along trying to keep up. Wouldn't it be a good idea, as in many countries, to limit anything with more than 4 wheels to the two left hand lanes? Their speed would then be self regulated by the most cautious drivers.

[bungy007]

So sad,you read about more wasted lives here in the LOS.

My thoughts are with all those involved with loss of loved ones.

What a sad start too the up and coming Songkran Holidays.

Indeed, give it another two weeks and watch the death toll mount. I really think there is little hope on improvements in reducing road death in Thailand until they introduce the concept of cause and effect as having a more immediate impact on the quality of life over buying flowered garlands and medallions. Such a pity but it is a part of their culture we can't really influence

[Boater]

what a gross waste of lives! Is requiring seat belts, or at least having them with each seat - as an option of choice - feasible? Even if belts were required, they probably wouldn't work anyway - similar to seat adjustments not working half the time.

when i go a bus the other week, they had straped the seatbelts inside the chair so you couldnt use them!

[jamesjdaly]

The bus lost control? What the h3ll do you mean the bus lost control? I am sick and tired of the media attaching the blame to anything except these maniac drivers.

[ChaoPhraya]

My Girlfriend was in the 3 bus just behind of the buses which trashed 2gether. She saw all this injured and killed people.......but i'm happy that's nothing happend to her. I feels sad about all those killes people.

chao_phraya

[cloudhopper]

On a recent road trip to Kanchanaburi we noticed busses on totally bald tires.

[fred2007]

I wonder why it took so long to get on TV? I read it on an Australian website at lunch or even before that I guess. But as usual a bad story nobody really likes to hear. RIP

[redscouse]

Why don't the passengers confront the drivers? in over 3 years in Thailand I have been on one bus but have seen many being driven recklessly. As an ex policeman I tend to notice bad driving (even small things) as I generally look out for it, however here I have to let it go as I was close to exploding at the selfish and dangerous driving on Thai roads, also my gf was getting close to smacking me for pointing out bad driving which was normally every 10 seconds.

Back to confronting the drivers, why don't the passengers tell them to slow down and drive carefully, surely people power would cause the driver to slow, or do the passengers sit and accept the bad driving?

[ballpoint]

Why don't the passengers confront the drivers? in over 3 years in Thailand I have been on one bus but have seen many being driven recklessly. As an ex policeman I tend to notice bad driving (even small things) as I generally look out for it, however here I have to let it go as I was close to exploding at the selfish and dangerous driving on Thai roads, also my gf was getting close to smacking me for pointing out bad driving which was normally every 10 seconds.

Back to confronting the drivers, why don't the passengers tell them to slow down and drive carefully, surely people power would cause the driver to slow, or do the passengers sit and accept the bad driving?

Why don't people do anything about the young men who race up and down the street on motorscooters? Why don't the police, directing traffic outside a private school, do anything about the kids riding motorscooters to and from it every day? Why don't motorists do anything about those who push in front, cut off other traffic, overtake on blind corners, all to get where ever they want to go a little faster, at the expense of everyone else? It's not the way it's done here. People either suffer in silence, or they just don't care.

[Jingthing]

Why don't people do anything

Mai bpen %#(%&_@#%& rai -- is why.

Or that is the prevailing sentiment anyway.

[patklang]

I was on a visa run and 3 of us had the bottle to tell the driver he is driving recklously,the turd told us to eff off,but after a while he did slow down on the return journey.We reported him after but i bet he wont have the sack.

[redscouse]

Why don't the passengers confront the drivers? in over 3 years in Thailand I have been on one bus but have seen many being driven recklessly. As an ex policeman I tend to notice bad driving (even small things) as I generally look out for it, however here I have to let it go as I was close to exploding at the selfish and dangerous driving on Thai roads, also my gf was getting close to smacking me for pointing out bad driving which was normally every 10 seconds.

Back to confronting the drivers, why don't the passengers tell them to slow down and drive carefully, surely people power would cause the driver to slow, or do the passengers sit and accept the bad driving?

Why don't people do anything about the young men who race up and down the street on motorscooters? Why don't the police, directing traffic outside a private school, do anything about the kids riding motorscooters to and from it every day? Why don't motorists do anything about those who push in front, cut off other traffic, overtake on blind corners, all to get where ever they want to go a little faster, at the expense of everyone else? It's not the way it's done here. People either suffer in silence, or they just don't care.

in all fairness mate it is easier to take control of a situation whilst being a passenger on a bus than it is to take control of another vehicle. I would imagine any dissenting voices on a bus would be foreigners rather than thais who seem less adept at spotting danger

[Jingthing]

would imagine any dissenting voices on a bus would be foreigners rather than thais who seem less adept at spotting danger

That is true and for us to make a scene would almost always be met with hostile xenophobia and 'tink too mut' put downs.

[onnut]

This is why I do my own travelling on a motorbike folks.

be careful and make sure you dont get hit by an out of control bus!

[onnut]

we hired a bus for the staff to take them on some day trip out of Bangkok and I told the driver if any of my staff complain about bad driving he would not get the 1000 Baht I was showing him. sure enough my staff all got back and apparently he drove very nice. its ashame that is the only way to get them to drive safe, but I guess that is the way it is over here. for the record, I would never step foot on a bus over here. nearly all buss drivers are mad.

[ballpoint]

This is why I do my own travelling on a motorbike folks.

be careful and make sure you dont get hit by an out of control bus!

Unfortunately, travelling in a pickup truck, or even another large bus, didn't save many of these people. If an out of control bus came towards me, and I had time to see it coming, I'd rather be on a bike. If I didn't have time, it wouldn't matter what I was on or in.

[fred2007]

we hired a bus for the staff to take them on some day trip out of Bangkok and I told the driver if any of my staff complain about bad driving he would not get the 1000 Baht I was showing him. sure enough my staff all got back and apparently he drove very nice. its ashame that is the only way to get them to drive safe, but I guess that is the way it is over here. for the record, I would never step foot on a bus over here. nearly all buss drivers are mad.

Just don't blame the drivers some busses are years old in BKK some of them are 75

[khundon]

You would NEVER get me on a bus or coach, drunk or drugged or just dangerous drivers, no maintenance.

I always drive myself and family, at least that gives me SOME control over my destiny.

[ballpoint]

we hired a bus for the staff to take them on some day trip out of Bangkok and I told the driver if any of my staff complain about bad driving he would not get the 1000 Baht I was showing him. sure enough my staff all got back and apparently he drove very nice. its ashame that is the only way to get them to drive safe, but I guess that is the way it is over here. for the record, I would never step foot on a bus over here. nearly all buss drivers are mad.

Put it in perspective though. On average, a bus leaves Bangkok headed for Khorat, and Khorat, headed for Bangkok every 10 minutes - 3 companies leaving at 30 minute or less intervals. That's a lot of bus trips every week. When one, or two in this case, but it was coincidental that the out of control one hit another bus, have an "incident" it's still uncommon enough for it to be big news. And that's just between two cities. Factor in all the others, and the chances of being on a bus in a collision are low, and of being killed even lower. Doesn't excuse bad driving, or poorly maintained vehicles, but it does, as I said, put it in perspective.